Record-Holding Video Game Collection Goes to Auction Block

Any gamers out there with a hefty amount of cash to spare? Michael Thommason, the current Guinness Book of World Records holder for the "World's Largest Video Game Collection," has officially put all the titles in his collection up for auction.

If you're curious just what it takes to achieve that milestone  and just how many games you'll be getting if you win the GameGavel auction  Thommason puts his total count somewhere north of 11,000 titles.

That includes complete collections for systems like the Virtual Boy (not too difficult), Sega CD, Sega Dreamcast, Sega Saturn, and more, as well as games for more consoles than you can probably even list out on paper. Around one-fourth of the total titles in Thommason's collection are still factory sealed; more than 2,600 are still shrink-wrapped, and more than 8,300 still contain the original box and manual.

But Thommason is not leaving gaming behind. "As many of you know I have been involved in the gaming industry for 25+ years. Although I am selling this collection, please do not misunderstand and come to the conclusion that I am leaving the hobby. That is definitely not the case," he wrote. "I love games and they are pivotal part of my identity. I will continue to champion them. I will continue to write for periodicals and publish books, teach my college gaming classes, occasionally partake in competitive gaming, operate GDG's Homebrew Heaven, publish new games and gaming products, write business plans, make appearances on television, film and radio, manage retail gaming stores, help with trade shows, work as a consultant for third parties, et cetera."

So why give it up? Thommason said only that his immediate and extended family have "needs" that need to be addressed. He doesn't appear to be all that concerned by the loss of his record-winning stacks of games.

"I've sold my collection many times in the past and still managed to capture Guinness' attention, and it is entirely possible that I may again," Thommason wrote.

As for the auction  assuming you can get in to bid, given the site's slow loading and/or sporadic connection  it includes all to the 10,607 games that the Guinness Book of World Records used during the verification process for Thommason's record. He's also throwing in a few hundred extra games, as well as a lifetime subscription to Retro magazine.

The bidding, which started at a mere $1, is up to $50,000 as of this article's writing. And that still hasn't hit the hidden reserve price for the auction, which ends on June 15 at 10:30 p.m. (ET), so it still has more than a week to get there.

For more, check out 11 Bizarre Video Game Adaptations That Actually Exist in the slideshow above.

David Murphy got his first real taste of technology journalism when he arrived at PC Magazine as an intern in 2005. A three-month gig turned to six months, six months turned to occasional freelance assignments, and he has since rejoined his tech-loving, mostly New York-based friends as one of PCMag.com's news contributors.
His rise to (self-described) fame in the world of tech journalism began during his stint as an associate editor at Maximum PC, where his love of cardboard-based PC construction and meetings put him in...
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